Girls’ varsity volleyball falls short in semifinals

The girls’ varsity volleyball team ended its season with a 15-6 overall record.

The girls lost their semifinal match in playoffs to Stone Ridge Christian, 3-1.

Setter Erin Reddy was the only senior on the team.

Reddy plans to play volleyball next year on an intramural or club team in college, as it’ll give her more free time.

The other varsity girls are planning what they will do to keep their skills sharp. Senior Erin Reddy, junior Sydney Michel and freshmen Kyra Petersen, Yasmin Gupta and Annya and Katia Dahmani tried out recently for club teams such as Gold Cal, Northern California Volleyball Club (NCVC), Elite Beach Volleyball and Sac Performance Volleyball Club (SPVC).

Trying out for these clubs is rigorous.

“The tryout process is very nerve-wracking,” said Gupta, who was accepted onto NCVC. “There are about 80 girls trying their hardest to get noticed by the coaches.”

Only 24 girls are accepted onto NCVC.

Club teams require a lot of dedication—and a large investment.

NCVC, which plays all over California, costs $3000 to join, which pays for coaches and gym rent, Gupta said.

In most clubs, players must provide their own kneepads and shoes. Some clubs require that players also buy their own uniforms, which can cost more than $250.

However, the players say that club volleyball is worth these expenses.

“Playing club volleyball with different people can make you a stronger player because you have to adapt to the way that they play,” junior Jenny Kerbs said.

“A different coach can give passing, serving and hitting suggestions that you hadn’t known about before.”

Junior Aidan Galati has decided not to play for a club, even though she played for club teams in the past. Instead, Galati will go to a public park with volleyball sand courts in Folsom on Sundays.

Galati said that the environment is much more relaxed and doesn’t require regular attendance. In addition, sand volleyball has only two players per team, so players must move around more.

The outdoor volleyball club designed by coaches Jason Kreps and Drew Petersen, 530, will be starting in January. This year, 530 will offer open training sessions instead of being an official team.

The girls and coaches have also begun talking about plans for improvement for next year’s season.

“I think the biggest improvement we could make is to remain focused at practice,” Kerbs said.

“There have been some matches where we might have been more competitive if we had taken practice more seriously.”